1.
Question of the Week: Why Do You Teach Parents to be Against
Special Ed Teachers?

"In
many of your articles, you do not support special ed teachers. In fact,
you instruct parents on how to be against special ed teachers and school
administrators."

"It's hard to understand why anyone would go into this field, when
teaching kids gets in the way of paperwork. It's easy to understand why
sped teachers leave the profession."Is this teacher correct? Do we teach parents to be "against"
special ed teachers? Do we support special ed teachers? What is our
mission?

Why should anyone go into special education? What qualities do good special
education teachers share? What may be troubling this teacher? What strategies
can she employ to resolve her problem?

Linda
McGreevy is a licensed professional nurse, a pediatric nurse practitioner,
and a certified school nurse.

She holds a school nurse certificate from Millersville University, a Masters
of Education from Penn State University, a certified nurse practitioner
degree from the College of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and Rutgers,
and a Bachelor of Science Nursing Degree from Fairleigh Dickenson University.

She is also qualified to be a school principal.

Between 1994 and 1999, Linda McGreevy received outstanding employment
ratings, scoring 75 or higher out of a possible 80 points. Under the District's
categories of ratings, 75-80 is considered "excellent," the
highest possible category.

The
Court held that the principal, assistant principal and superintendent
who retaliated against Ms. McGreevy were not entitled to qualified immunity
in their official capacities; that they may also be liable in their individual
(personal) capacities; that because the superintendent was the final policymaker,
by supporting retaliatory performance ratings, the District became liable.
The decision in McGreevy
v. Stroup, et. al. includes a comprehensive analysis of freedom of
speech rights for public employees; how these rights are affected in "matters
of public concern;" the balancing of interests between the employee's
right to speak and the employer's interest in "efficiency and maintaining
discipline in the workplace."
More special ed caselaw.

E-book
(162 pages, 8 1/2" x 11", $9.95). Available now. When you purchase
the e-book (PDF format), you can download it within minutes. You can read
it on your computer or print it out on your printer. There is no shipping
or sales tax for e-books.
Print publication (168 pages, 8 1/2" x 11", perfect
bound, $14.95 plus shipping). Ship date: 2nd week of August.E-book
& Print Combo: Get Wrightslaw:
IDEA 2004as
an e-book immediately and the print edition in August ($19.95)

$10
Off Coupon

People
who order the E-book
& Print Combo ($19.95) between Tuesday, June 28 and Friday,
July 15 receive a "$10 Off Coupon" that may be applied to the
purchase of Wrightslaw: Special Education
Law, 2nd Edition. (To be published after the final special
education regulations are published in Winter 2005/6)

5.
Last Public Hearings on IDEA 2004 Regulations: San Antonio & Washington,
D.C.

The Department
of Education has held public hearings in several cities to receive comments
about the proposed IDEA 2004 regulations. The last public meetings will
be held in San Antonio (July 7) and Washington, DC (July 12).

We plan to
attend the meeting in Washington, DC on July 12. We hope to see you there!

6.
Pete's Advice: How to Provide a Comment on Proposed Regs

If you intend to provide a comment on the proposed IDEA 2004 regs (in a
meeting or in writing), you need to be prepared. Read the specific section
in IDEA 2004 and the proposed regulation very carefully.

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